Aretha
Franklin is one of the giants of soul music, and indeed
of American pop as a whole. More than any other performer,
she epitomized soul at its most gospel-charged. Her
astonishing run of late-'60s hits with Atlantic Records--"Respect,"
"I Never Loved a Man," "Chain of Fools,"
"Baby I Love You," "I Say a Little
Prayer," "Think," "The House That
Jack Built," and several others--earned her the
title "Lady Soul," which she has worn uncontested
ever since. Yet as much of an international institution
as she's become, much of her work--outside of her
recordings for Atlantic in the late '60s and early
'70s--is erratic and only fitfully inspired, making
discretion a necessity when collecting her records.

Franklin's roots in gospel ran extremely deep. With
her sisters Carolyn and Erma (both of whom would also
have recording careers), she sang at the Detroit church
of her father, Reverend C.L. Franklin, while growing
up in the 1950s. In fact, she made her first recordings
as a gospel artist at the age of 14. It has also been
reported that Motown was interested in signing Aretha
back in the days when it was a tiny start-up. Ultimately,
however, Franklin ended up with Columbia, to which
she was signed by the renowned talent scout John Hammond.

Franklin would record for Columbia constantly throughout
the first half of the '60s, notching occasional R&B
hits (and one Top Forty single, "Rock-a-bye Your
Baby with a Dixie Melody"), but never truly breaking
out as a star. The Columbia period continues to generate
considerable controversy among critics, many of whom
feel that Aretha's true aspirations were being blunted
by pop-oriented material and production. In fact there's
a reasonable amount of fine items to be found on the
Columbia sides, including the occasional song ("Lee
Cross," "Soulville") where she belts
out soul with real gusto. It's undeniably true, though,
that her work at Columbia was considerably tamer than
what was to follow, and suffered in general from a
lack of direction and an apparent emphasis on trying
to develop her as an all-around entertainer, rather
than as an R&B/soul singer.